Hornets and the Western Conference Finals

I don’t think the Western Conference Finals are out of the Hornets’ reach. This isn’t a dream scenario, this is very realistic. Follow me.

If Utah beats the Clippers and lose to the Lakers, they are stuck at #8. If Portland wins out (Thunder, Nuggets) and finishes at 54-28 and we beat The Rockets, then Portland and Houston flip spots. A win against the Spurs helps this as well. This puts Rockets/Spurs in the first round with the winner playing the Lakers/Jazz victor. Four teams New Orleans doesn’t want to see in the first round. All of the sudden it’s possible that we don’t see any of these guys until the Conference finals.

The Hornets can help themselves a lot by beating Houston Monday night. Then our path to the WCF just goes through Denver and Portland. Even better, what if Dallas draws Portland in the first round and continues their regular season success and then we meet the Mavericks in the second round with home court advantage?